Cape students prepare for Odyssey of the Mind

With a square of foil, H.O. Brittingham Elementary student Isaac Stuart created a robot destroying the world.

Dilyla Rohls fashioned a crown for herself, and placed it proudly on her head.

Isaac and Dilyla, along with Alex Rowley, Elena Booth and Ellison Rohls, were using the foil to solve a spontaneous problem during team practice for Delaware’s Odyssey of the Mind competition in March.

First-time coach, and Isaac’s mother, Mary Stuart said the team began meeting weekly in November, and bumped it up to twice weekly after winter break.

“The kids are doing a great job,” she said. “The ideas must come from them; points are deducted if adults help. They’ve just taken it and run with it.”

Odyssey of the Mind is a collaborative problem-solving competition that focuses on STEM, the arts and history. Students must solve spontaneous problems through creative responses or hands-on, quick projects, and long-term problems that include performing skits or creating weight-bearing structures.

Isaac, Dilyla, Alex, Elena and Ellison chose to do their long-term problem on Italian painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. Students wrote a play set in da Vinci’s workshop and are creating backgrounds and props.

“They’re ad-libbing and adjusting their script to see what works best,” Stuart said.

Cape District Coordinator Cheryl Baldwin said the district is fielding 21 teams this year - two from H.O.B., three each from Milton and Love Creek elementaries, seven from Shields Elementary, two from Beacon Middle and four from Mariner Middle.

Baldwin said last year, Cape entered 17 teams in the regional competition. Of those, 10 moved on to the state competition and five advanced to the world competition.